Pulock Pots Another Game-Winner for Islanders

Ryan Pulock has developed his game throughout his six-year NHL career, but he used the heavy shot that he's most well-known for to help the
Islanders take a 1-0 series lead
.
Up 1-0, Pulock picked up a loose puck at the blue line and had all sorts of time and space to walk the line and tee up a signature slapper. With a clear lane and no one within 15 feet, Pulock stepped into a full windup, powering a shot through a four-time Vezina Trophy nominee in Andrei Vasilevskiy. Goalies are supposed to stop shots they can see, but sometimes a Pulock blast just comes in too hot.

"I got a puck there and had some space to walk the line and had a clear lane and got some good wood on it," Pulock said. "I was able to sneak it through his arm."
The goal was Pulock's fourth of the playoffs and third game-winning goal. Pulock's three game-winners are the most among defensemen in the postseason and are tied with Vegas' Max Pacioretty for the NHL lead.

The three winning tallies also mark one more than the total number of goals Pulock scored during the regular season. The defenseman had scored 10, 9 and 10 goals in the three previous seasons, but was snake bit during the shortened season. Pulock didn't light the lamp until scoring
the game-winner against the New York Rangers on April 11
, his 92nd shot of the season.
"I try not to let that bother me in the regular season, just keep playing my game, play the right way, play good defensively and I knew it would come," Pulock said. "Obviously come playoff time it's nice to contribute that way, help out offensively. Every goal is huge in the playoffs, so it's nice to get one or two just want to keep that going."
Trotz said he hasn't seen any deviation in Pulock's game, but that the defenseman was being rewarded for putting pucks to the net and taking care of business in his own end.
"I don't think there's any change in his game," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "He's had a solid season, right from game 1 to the end of the season and his talent, his shot, his poise, all of those things. They're going in. Usually what happens with those defensemen is when they want to put up those numbers, they end up not putting them up, when they just play solid, they do."

The 26-year-old has become a minute-crunching, shutdown defenseman under Trotz, currently leading all Islanders defensemen in hits (51) and ranking second in blocked shots (27) in the playoffs. It was the same story in the regular season, when the 6'2, 215 lbs. blueliner had 97 hits and 106 blocks, while leading the Isles in TOI/GP for a third-straight year.
Pulock was good at both ends of the ice in Game 1, on the ice for both Islanders goals, while the line he was out to shut down - Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Ondej Palat - was held to one shot on goal at even strength, though Point scored during a six-on-four power play. While Pulock's defensive game is a big part of his evolution as a top-pairing blueliner, having his offensive game clicking only makes Pulock more dangerous for the Islanders.
"He's playing a solid game just like he has all year," Trotz said.